The leading cause of death for young people is something Americans spend 11% of their time doing

When we drive to work, drive to the store, drive anywhere, really
— we're gambling that we won't lose control of the wheel or
accidentally encounter someone who does.

Traffic fatalities are the leading cause of death globally among
people 15 to 29 years old, according to the World Health
Organization. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
list "Unintentional Injury" — primarily traffic fatalities — as
the
leading cause of death among people ages 1 to 44 years
old.

It shouldn't be surprising.

We spend a lot of time in our cars.

One
2007 study from Harvard University found Americans spend an
average of 101 minutes in the car each day. For
someone getting eight hours of sleep each night, that's 11%
of their life spent doing the thing most likely to kill them.

"We think, for example, that the answers are safer cars,
wider roads, and laws against texting," Klinkenberg
wrote recently on his blog. "What we don’t talk about is that
the 'safer' we make cars and the wider we make the roads, the
more we enable bad behavior and faster driving. And to put it
bluntly, speed kills."

Klinkenberg argues for approaches that other countries have
adopted to wide success.

"The only truly effective ways to save lives are to make
driving optional instead of a mandatory fact of
life, to narrow roads so as to slow speeds, provide great public
transportation options, and enforce strict penalties for bad
driving behavior," he wrote.

The safest cities for commuters all have the same things in
common: They are compact rather than sprawling; they offer plenty
of bike and walking lanes, and they draw residents toward
public transportation with housing and nightlife.

America needs to rethink its love of suburban sprawl, and, given
the evidence, take steps to look more like a city.